The Los Altos track and field team held a dual meet with Palo Alto High School on March 26, with the boys losing 65-62 and the girls losing 89-33. The boys track team narrowly missed securing a victory over Palo Alto for the first time in over four years, as Palo Alto has had a long-standing streak and is known to have a solid track team. Nevertheless, the Eagles managed to secure first place in many events while sweeping others.

“We were all really focused,” junior Konrad Niemiec said. “Our coaches all pumped us up and there were some amazing performances on all sides of the track, with people stepping up in numerous areas.”

On the boys team, the Eagles had a number of outstanding performances. Senior Danny Yeager placed first in the 110 meter hurdles, 300 meter hurdles and the high jump and second in the long jump, single-handedly securing 18 points for Los Altos. Senior Arthur Bogdanovich was able to clinch a win in the 400 meter race by out-leaning his opponent by 0.06, while sophomore Sami Fakalolo captured the discus. Konrad Niemiec and senior Josh Cohen were also able to win first and third, respectively, in the 800 meter race. These wins, along with the Eagles’ sweep of both the 1600 and 3200 meter events, were what allowed Los Altos to challenge the Vikings until the very end.

The outcome of the meet was decided by the last event, the 4×400 meter relay. Palo Alto was able to outrace Los Altos by just under three seconds, which is what gave the track powerhouse the three point advantage in the end.

In the girls division, the Eagles were unable to keep up with Palo Alto’s strong sprinters. The long distance events, however, were where Los Altos was able to score points. Senior Claire Bowie placed first in the 800 meter race, while freshman Lauren Jacob easily secured first place in the 3200 meters, finishing over a minute ahead of her opponents.

The Eagles came out of this meet with greater experience and high hopes for CCS. Although Los Altos will not be competing against Palo Alto again in the season, they are prepared for an encounter with the Vikings at meets such as CCS.

“We will be able to match up against them at multi-team meets such as the CCS championships,” Konrad said. “We have a similar number of higher-level athletes.”